Supreme Council of Magistracy of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المجلس الأعلى للقضاء) is a seven-eleven member council appointed by the King in the legal system of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It supervises the lower courts of Saudi Arabia – overseeing judges' performances and new judicial appointments[1] – but also provides "legal opinions, advises the King, and reviews sentences involving death, stoning, or amputation". (according to a 2006 description of it from Washington Law University).[2] The Minister of Justice serves as the chief of the Council.[3][2]
As of a decree made January 2013, the council will be headed by the justice minister and its members will include the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia (which was created by later reforms), four Chiefs of the Court of Appeals, the deputy justice minister, chairman of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.[3] The term of office for the council members is four years, starting 15 January 2013.[3]
As of a decree of January 2013, its members were
Sheik Saleh Al Luhaidan, seen in video seated to the right of the crown prince, is chief justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Council of Magistracy. His sermons and words carry great significance. In an audiotape secretly recorded at a government mosque last October and obtained by NBC News, Luhaidan encourages young Saudis to go to Iraq to wage war against Americans. "If someone knows that he is capable of entering Iraq in order to join the fight, and if his intention is to raise up the word of God, then he is free to do so," says Luhaidan in Arabic on the tape. He warns Iraq is risky because "evil satellites and drone aircraft" watch the borders. But he says going is religiously permissible.
The most senior judge in Saudi Arabia ... Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan ... speaking in response to a listener who asked his opinion on the airing of programmes featuring scantily-dressed women during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "There is no doubt that these programmes are a great evil, and the owners of these channels are as guilty as those who watch them," said the sheikh. "It is legitimate to kill those who call for corruption if their evil can not be stopped by other penalties."
* The head of the Supreme Council of Magistracy: Out goes Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaidan, who issued an edict in September that ruled it permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations broadcasting content judged immoral;
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